There are many systems that rely on macroscopic motion and generate work by direct application of motion generated in an acoustic source to a medium of interest. Examples include such diverse systems as speakers that use mechanical motion to generate sound, ultrasonic cleaners that use mechanical motion to generate waves useful in dissolving materials found on hard surfaces into a liquid medium, and ultrasonic drills that use sound waves to drill throw hard materials.
Known in the prior art is Sherrit et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,902,943, issued Mar. 8, 2011, which is said to disclose an embodiment that provides electrical energy from a source on one side of a medium to a load on the other side of the medium, the embodiment including a first piezoelectric to generate acoustic energy in response to electrical energy from the source, and a second piezoelectric to convert the received acoustic energy to electrical energy used by the load. In such systems, the repeated conversion of energy from one form to another incurs a penalty at each conversion, because no conversion process is lossless. U.S. Pat. No. 7,902,943 is assigned to the assignee of the present application.
There is a need for improved systems and methods for transmitting power contained in sonic or ultrasonic waves.